Despite a pandemic construction boom, the U.S housing shortage grew to 4.5 million homes in 2022, up from 4.3 million the year before, according to a new analysis from Zillow. This deepening housing deficit is the root cause of the housing affordability crisis.
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The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) shared this week that former longtime NAW President and Chief Executive Officer, Dirk Van Dongen, died June 8. Van Dongen led NAW for 41 years until his retirement in late 2020, spearheading the association’s transformation into what it is today. He was also President of NAW’s Institute for Distribution Excellence, Treasurer of NAW-PAC, and led the NAW Service Corporation.
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More than 900 business professionals engaged in all facets of residential construction trekked to Capitol Hill June 12th to call on Congress to ease the chronic headwinds that are fanning the nation’s housing affordability crisis and impeding builders from boosting housing production.
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The median age of construction workers is 42, one year older than a typical worker in the national labor force, according to NAHB analysis of the most recent 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) data. However, more younger people are joining the construction industry. Despite some improvements since the peak of the skilled labor shortage in 2021, attracting skilled labor remains the primary long-term goal for the construction industry.
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Fueled by a lack of existing inventory and pent-up demand, single-family permit growth is occurring across all tracked geographic regions of the nation while the opposite holds true for the multifamily sector, according to the latest findings from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) for the first quarter of 2024.
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Hitting a new all-time high, home prices continued to rise month-over-month and year-over-year across the U.S., according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices.
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A new quarterly Cost of Housing Index (CHI) highlights the burden that housing costs represent for middle and low-income families. In its inaugural release for the first quarter of 2024, CHI revealed that a typical family in the U.S. must spend 38% of its income to cover the mortgage payment on a median priced new single-family home. Low-income families, defined as those earning only 50% of median income, would have to spend 77% of their earnings to pay for the same new home.
The desirability of new homes continues to grow. Faced with the alternative of choosing between an existing home and a newly built home, 61% of home buyers in a recent NAHB study indicated a new home is their first preference. That marks the highest share of buyers leaning toward a new home since 2007, when 63% of buyers preferred new construction.
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NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates a slowing market for custom home building after a recent gain in market share. The subsector’s greater reliance on cash buyers has not shielded it from recent market softening, which in turn is putting downward pressure on home builder sentiment.
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The pace of new-home sales accelerated in April on a month-over-month and year-over-year basis as three in five builders reported demand is either on track or stronger than they expected, according to the latest Zonda New Home Market Update.
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World Millwork Alliance (WMA) 54 TH Annual Convention & Tradeshow will hold its’ premier event at the Memphis Cook Convention Center from September 11-15, 2018. WMA will offer Veterans and Students complimentary access to the exhibit hall during Millwork Career Day on Friday, September 14, 2018 during the show hours of 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
WMA welcomes Veterans and Students to explore a career in the millwork industry. Learn from worldwide millwork professionals while viewing the finest millwork products. Meet with industry distributors and manufacturers about the opportunities in a millwork career.
Pre-registration for a name badge is available by completing a WMA Registration Form. Any local Student or Veteran who has pre-registered will pick up their complimentary “Expo – One Day Pass” with a valid student ID or Veteran ID at the WMA registration desk in the Memphis Cook Convention Center.
Veterans must show a Veteran’s Administration (VA) identification card to receive an “Expo-One Day Pass” and to gain entrance into the exhibit hall on Friday, September 14, 2018.
Students must show a valid Student photo I.D. card to receive an “Expo-One Day Pass” and to gain entrance into the exhibit hall on Friday, September 14, 2018.
Pre-registration is open until August 13, 2018; thereafter, registration is onsite at the WMA registration desk in the Memphis Cook Convention Center.
